


Cards on the Table

by FH14



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Casino, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Gambling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-01-24
Packaged: 2018-05-16 02:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5809399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FH14/pseuds/FH14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marcello had heard about the flashy new dealer at the casino he worked at, but meeting her after hours, and playing her one-on-one repeatedly at poker, was a whole different story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cards on the Table

**Author's Note:**

> Standard names are used in this story when available. Marcello is Seborga, Genevieve is Monaco, Cheng is Macau, and Wendy is Wy. I am terrible at cards so any factual inaccuracies about card games and casinos can be chalked up to that, though I tried my best.
> 
> And thank you [Icelilly](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Icelilly/) for beta reading this. You're awesome!

“I’m telling you, she’s really amazing!”

“Will you stop! She’s not that great,” Lovino snapped, polishing the glass in his hand with a little too much force.

Feliciano glanced over at Lovino and then turned back toward Marcello, a huge grin plastered across his face. “He’s just upset because she played him in Blackjack and he lost.”

“It’s all just luck damn it. Shut the hell up,” Lovino muttered to himself, though Marcello suspected that if the casino weren’t packed, he’d have shouted it.

Of course, there was never a time when the casino wasn’t packed, since gambling was one of those vices that never seemed to have a slow day. It was rare that anyone actually lost their shirt, but hard loses did happen from time to time. Marcello heard enough stories from distraught patrons who decided to use what money they had left to wallow in a drunken haze.

And as the bartender, stories from overjoyed and devastated customers, and sometimes his brothers and anyone else who served drinks, were pretty much his only view of what happened on the casino floor, since he was virtually never on it.

That being said, the stories were almost never about the employees themselves.

“I can’t believe he actually gambled though,” Marcello said, doing his best to ignore Lovino’s glare. “Especially on Blackjack.”

“Well, he hates Blackjack, but he likes pretty girls,” Feliciano said, “He was flirting with her and she asked him to play since they were both on break.”

“That… makes more sense,” Marcello said.

“It’s not like I suck at cards or anything,” Lovino interjected, looking increasingly annoyed. “She’s just really good at it. Earlier she was dealing like an old pro and even caught a guy counting cards.”

_That should’ve tipped you off then_ , Marcello thought to himself, though he knew telling him as much would only make him mad.

“Maybe I’ll try asking her out on a date,” Feliciano winked.

“Are you good at Blackjack?”

“Well… no,” Feliciano said, his face falling.

Lovino smirked, “Then don’t bother. She’ll fleece you completely.”

“What was her name by the way?” Marcello asked. “You keep talking about her but you’re not mentioning details.”

“Her name is Genevieve,” Feliciano said. “She’s assigned one of the tables in the back. The way she looked… well, she looked like she could be royalty.”

“That’s the line you would’ve used on her, isn’t it?” Lovino said, his eyebrow twitching.

“Not bad, right?” Feliciano grinned.

* * *

Marcello stifled a yawn, thanking his lucky stars that he wasn’t working the morning shift. Tonight had been particularly taxing. Three patrons had been thrown out for cheating, and another won big and spent half of their winnings at the bar, surrounded by beautiful men and women.

If one of the casino executives hadn’t come down to the bar, Marcello suspected Lovino would’ve thrown a fit.

But now, with the last few stragglers leaving the building and the cleanup done, the casino felt calm.

“A domani!” Feliciano called out, looking exhausted himself as he stumbled towards the back exit.

Lovino and the others had already gone home, as it was Marcello’s turn to lock up. In fact, he was just about to grab his things and head out when he heard a noise coming from out on the casino floor.

“Hello?” Marcello said. After waiting a minute for an answer, he walked out towards the casino’s entryway. “Hey, is anyone in here?”

“Oh! Sorry!”

Marcello turned and spotted someone, a young woman, waving at him from one of the dealer tables in the back.

“I need to lock up!” He called out, “You can’t be in here!”

“Sorry! I’ll be just a few more minutes!”

Marcello sighed in agitation and began walking toward her. After the long night he had, he was in no mood to deal with anyone that was delaying him from a good night’s sleep.

“I’m gonna have to insist-“ he began, before feeling his breath catch in his throat.

He didn’t recognize the woman standing before him – if he had, he wouldn’t have been caught off guard by how striking she was. Yes, she was beautiful, but what made him stop dead in his tracks were her eyes. They were a sharp blue color and held an intensity that was immediately disarming.

They were focused on the deck of cards in front of her and, before Marcello could process what was happening, her hands seemed to glide over them and in one swift motion, she began dealing cards in rapid succession to a group of unseen players. It was something that Marcello had seen countless times, but never with such obvious passion and precision.

He was so transfixed that it didn’t register she was speaking to him.

“Hey, is anybody home?” She laughed.

“Huh? Sorry?” Marcello blinked.

“I asked what your name was. I didn’t see you around here tonight.”

“Marcello Vargas, I work at the bar…” he said, before the realization hit him. “Are you… You’re Genevieve, right?”

“Genevieve Bonnefoy, at your service,” She said, a twinkle in her eye. “You’ve heard of me?”

“You apparently beat my older brother Lovino in Blackjack.”

“Huh, that’s surprising,” She said.

“Not really. He’s awful at cards.”

“No, I mean, I got that much. It’s just you’re taller than he is. Hell, you’re just tall,” She said. She placed her hand on the top of her head, then lifted it up in the air around where Marcello’s height ended. “I could climb you like a tree.”

“Eh?” Marcello said, feeling his face flush red. Before he could collect himself and respond, Genevieve had turned her attention back to packing away her cards.

“Hey, if you ever get a break at the bar, you should come by my table. I’ll play you in cards. Maybe Poker?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Marcello said.

Genevieve grabbed her supplies and flashed Marcello a grin – not unlike one an old man would give his grandchild. “Well, I better be going. ‘Night Marcello.”

“Hey, um,” Marcello said, “I don’t make a lot of money at my job-“

“It’s okay,” Genevieve said, glancing over her shoulder, grin as wide as ever. “We’ll bet on something else.”

* * *

“Wow, that wasn’t smooth at all.”

“Well, yeah, I know that,” Marcello grimaced, polishing yet another glass. He had only met Genevieve that morning, and he was already reevaluating all of his life choices.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” The blond boy sitting at the bar said, taking a quick sip of his drink. “I mean, it’s not like he was asking her on a date or anything. It’s just cards.”

“Peter, you need to learn to read between the lines,” his brunette companion snapped. “Marcello clearly thinks she’s neat-“

“He thinks she’s neat _porca la miseria_ ,” Lovino said, stepping behind the bar. “Marcello, your friends are way too young to be hanging out here. And too young to date, apparently.”

“Hey, we’re just having Shirley Temples,” Peter said. “And I’m sixteen for your information!”

“And this is a bar slash restaurant,” the girl said, glaring at Lovino, “We have every right to be here as long as we don’t drink or gamble.”

Lovino hesitated for a moment. “Fine. Just don’t go on the casino floor.” He said, before taking a stack of dirty glasses into the tiny kitchen area.

“Does this even qualify as a restaurant? They only serve appetizers,” Peter said, glancing over the chalkboard at the back of the bar. “Oh wait! They serve sliders too? Sweet! Wendy can we-“

“No. We’re not spending money on overpriced sliders,” Wendy snapped. “The drinks are already expensive enough.”

“Guys, we’re getting a bit off topic,” Marcello interrupted. “And what do you mean I thought she was neat?”

“Well, you’re asking for advice about her, so clearly you like her,” Peter reasoned, staring at the menu longingly.

“Yeah, and this is pretty standard Marcello behavior when it comes to girls,” Wendy added. “Except this time you actually have a chance because you didn’t try some ridiculous pick-up line.”

“Hey, I’ll let you know I’ve held hands with lots of girls,” Marcello said. “And my pick-up lines are ridiculously _amazing_.”

“Marcello, last year you said that when I graduated you’d ask me out because, and I quote, ‘18 and 21 isn’t creepy like 15 and 18.’”

“Wendy, I was drunk, it doesn’t count. I’m pretty sure I told Peter I’d buy him a boat after that.”

“You mean you’re not?” Peter said, resting his head on the bar. “This day is just full of disappointment.”

Wendy rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say. I just think-“ She paused, watching Lovino hurry out of the kitchen and start preparing drinks for an older couple a few seats away. “Marcello, why are you talking to us while Lovino does your job?”

“Oh, I’m on break right now.”

“Are you kidding me?” She said, grabbing him by his tie. “How much longer do you have?”

“Uh, forty-five minutes I think?” Marcello choked, pulling himself free of her grasp.

“Then this is the perfect opportunity to go talk to her!” Wendy said.

“I don’t know…”

“She’s right dude,” Peter said. “Better do it while you still have your nerve.”

“Uh, alright. Yeah!” Marcello said, putting down the rag and walking out from behind the bar. “I’ll go talk to her!”

“Good luck!” Wendy said, and Peter held up his glass and nodded.

Marcello nodded, his bones practically vibrating underneath his skin. Taking a deep breath, he channeled positive thoughts about himself, trying to manufacture his normal level of confidence.

By the time he got over to Genevieve’s table, he was feeling a lot more confident. A group of patrons dispersed from the table, and Genevieve began clearing it.

“Oh, hey,” Marcello said, “You on break?”

“Yup,” She said, glancing up and giving him a friendly nod, “Got until… 8:30 I think? What’s up?”

“I was thinking about your proposition last night,” He said, leaning against the table and shooting her his best smolder. “Up for a game of Poker?”

“Anytime,” She said, straightening up. She met Marcello’s gaze, and he almost looked away. “What stakes did you have in mind?”

“How about, if I win against you, we’ll go out on a date.”

Genevieve crossed her arms, apparently lost in thought. “Interesting… Okay, sure. Why not? But what do I get if I win?”

“What do you want?”

“How about, if I win you have to promise to play me again,” She grinned. “I can never get enough Poker.”

“Okay,” Marcello said, blinking in surprise. From her demeanor, he was half-expecting demands to clean her apartment or polish her shoes.

“We’ll need someone to deal for us though… Hey Cheng, are you free right now?” Genevieve called out, waving over another dealer. She turned back to Marcello, the fire in her eyes flickering back at him. “Be warned, I’m pretty ruthless at cards.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t back down easily,” Marcello said, puffing out his chest.

* * *

Genevieve decimated him.

It was a total defeat. If he was a country, all of his crops would’ve been burned and his currency rendered worthless. Marcello knew the game would be difficult, but he never expected to lose this badly.

Even Cheng shot him a sympathetic look when he started collecting the cards.

“You’re not too bad,” Genevieve said, looking pleased with herself. “You held up better than most have.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Marcello laughed meekly. “You’re so good at this though, I feel like I just wasted your time.”

“Nah, you’re a pretty fun guy to hang out with,” Genevieve said, laughing much like a kind old man would. “I feel like a date with you wouldn’t be too bad either.”

“Yeah?” Marcello said.

“Well, you lost this time, but we get to play again so who knows? Maybe you’ll get better,” She grinned. “My break’s almost over so I better use the restroom while I can. Let’s do this again sometime!”

“Oh! Yeah, sure!” Marcello said, standing up, but she was already walking away from the table.

She raised her arm up over her shoulder and waved, shouting behind her, “Oh, and loser tips the dealer!”

“Dealers get tips?” Marcello asked, turning to Cheng.

“They do when they’re on break,” Cheng said, a wicked glint in his eye as he held out his palm.

* * *

“Hey, those are our sliders!” Peter protested, watching helplessly as Marcello grabbed one of the small burgers off his plate and began munching on it.

“Put it on my tab,” he mumbled, “I just spent my dinner money tipping one of the dealers.”

“Genevieve?” Wendy asked, smacking Peter’s hand away as he reached to steal back his slider.

“No, Cheng. I played Genevieve in poker and I lost. Badly.”

“Well, that’s not terribly surprising,” Wendy said, crossing her arms. “How much money did you lose?”

“Only what I gave Cheng. Because I lost the bet I have to play her again. She likes Poker apparently.”

“She… wants you to play her again?” Wendy repeated, giving him an exasperated look.

“What?”

“It means she’s interested,” Peter said, shoving another slider in his mouth, apparently haven given up on the one Marcello took. “Why else would she ask to play you again when you’re terrible?”

“I-“ Marcello began, before falling silent. It did seem to be the only explanation.

“Looks like you have an actual shot here,” Wendy nodded in agreement.

“But what am I supposed to do?” Marcello asked. “Am I just supposed to keep losing? Am I supposed to actually beat her? I mean, she did say if I won she’d go out with me…”

“You’re supposed to beat her, duh,” Peter said.

“I’m not so sure about that,” Wendy said, resting her head in her hand thoughtfully. “I mean on the surface level, yeah. But she might just wanna get to know you better, and playing cards was a good way to do that.”

“Nah, you’re supposed to win!” Peter insisted.

Wendy gave him a derisive look. “I- I don’t even have the energy to argue this,” She finally said, taking a slider as she spoke.

“Hey! That was the last one!”

“If you want to order more, Marcello will get them,” Lovino said, walking behind the counter and tossing a dirty rag at his brother. “His break is over. If you need me I’ll be in the back.”

“Yeah, okay,” Marcello said, scrambling to get back into the mindset of work. The guessing game going on in his head made that difficult though, and Peter chanting the word ‘sliders’ over and over again didn’t help either.

“Fine! We’ll order some more!” Wendy said, smacking Peter on the back on the head.

“You didn’t have to hit me,” Peter said, looking dejected.

“Look, don’t stress,” Wendy said to Marcello, ignoring Peter. “Just make sure you play her again… and get Peter more sliders please.”

“Yes!” Peter said, pumping his fist in the air.

* * *

Marcello waited two days before he asked Genevieve to play him again.

This time he didn’t have his friends cheering him on from the bar. Sure, Feliciano was there, but Marcello didn’t want to inspire his brother to pursue Genevieve himself. Having someone who looks like him shouting ‘ _Bella! Bella!_ ’ from across the room was sure to kill any interest she had in him.

Of course, having a bit of Feliciano’s bold confidence couldn’t hurt.

“Hey there, up for another game?” Marcello said, leaning up against Genevieve’s table.

“Sounds good,” Genevieve said, putting down the cards she was playing with. “But how about we change up the bargain a little bit?”

“Oh?” Marcello asked, feeling his fake confidence rapidly draining.

“If I win, you have to grant me one favor.”

“What is the favor?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” she said, shrugging. “You’ll just have to find out. What do you say?”

Marcello’s instincts told him that this kind of arrangement would be a bad idea, but he found himself nodding his head.

“Okay,” She grinned, “Let’s get started.”

* * *

It wasn’t as much of a shutout as before.

If Marcello didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that Genevieve was going easy on him. In all honesty, however, she was probably a bit tired. At one point he caught her blinking rapidly, staring at her cards with a loose concentration that seemed out of character.

This wasn’t to say she was bad. Even off her game, she was still beating him heartily. It got to the point where, even this late in the game, he still had some chance of winning.

“Not bad Vargas. You caught me on an off night,” Genevieve said, glancing through her cards.

“If this is what you’d consider an off night, I can’t even imagine what you’d be like in the zone.”

“Maybe you’ll find out later,” She winked.

Marcello felt his face redden. He absentmindedly looked through his cards. “So, um, what inspired you to get into cards?”

“I’m not sure really,” Genevieve said, looking through her own hand. “I think it might have been all the different games you can play with them. Like, it’s all the same cards, but they play different roles in different games. I always thought that was neat, about how a different set of circumstances resulted in a different experience.”

“That seems deep?” Marcello said, not entirely sure how to respond to that.

“Oh, I’m sure it was complete nonsense,” Genevieve laughed. “It made sense in my head, though. What about you? Always inspired to become a bartender?”

“Not really. I needed a job so my brothers helped me get this one. I mean, I think I’m pretty good at it, but taking classes part-time can be a killer with these hours.”

“You’re in school right now?”

“Taking the semester off, actually, I needed a bit of a break,” Marcello shrugged, almost forgetting that they were playing a game. “I need to choose a major and I wanna mull it over before I commit to anything.”

“I understand that,” Genevieve said, shifting some cards around in her deck. “I like to think through all of my decisions before I make them. It’s probably why I’m so good at cards, but it’s also probably why I get stress headaches.”

Cheng coughed, tapping on his watch.

“Oh, my break’s almost over! I really need to get back to work soon,” Marcello said.

“Mine is too, actually. In that case, why don’t we finish this here,” Genevieve said, pushing all of her chips to the center of the table.

Marcello stared at the chips and then looked back up at her in shock. Considering how calculated her gameplay was, he never expected she would make a move as bold as this. He looked down at his cards, staring at the four Jacks he had shuffled off to the side. Four of a kind wasn’t bad, but he felt like Genevieve never would have risked her chance of winning for anything less than a straight flush.

Still, he couldn’t exactly back down from such a bold declaration.

“I’m in,” He said, throwing the chips he had left into the pot.

“Excellent,” Genevieve said, pulling out several cards from her deck and placing them delicately on the table. “Four of a kind. Queens.”

Marcello sighed, lying his cards on the table as well. “Four of a kind. Jacks.”

“Damn, that was close,” Genevieve said, clearly surprised by this turn of events. “You almost won!”

“Well, you did go all in, so you must’ve known that could’ve been a possibility.”

“Oh, I know, I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just…” Genevieve hesitated. “You have a lousy poker face, and from the face you were making I thought you had a bad hand.”

“No, I just assumed you had an amazing one,” Marcello said, “But anyway, since you won-“

Cheng coughed and pointed up at the clock.

“What?” Genevieve asked, scrunching up her face and looking up. “My break isn’t over until… oh! Sorry Cheng.”

“It’s fine,” he smirked, holding out his hand.

“I left you some of that ginger candy you like so much in the break room, so consider that your tip,” Genevieve said, rolling her eyes. “Better go get it before Mr. Jones finds it.”

“Uh, thanks!” Cheng said, sliding out from behind the counter and making his way to the employee corridor with uncharacteristic anxiety.

Marcello stared after him. “That was…”

“Unexpected, I know.” Genevieve laughed, picking up the last of the cards. “But he likes that candy a lot. Speaking of which, have you ever been to that chocolate place across the street?”

“Oh, no!” Marcello said, gathering the last of the poker chips into a drawstring bag. “It looks great though.”

“Why don’t we check it out? Before work tomorrow, I mean,” she said. “We can discuss the terms of our arrangement more then. Our breaks are almost over after all.”

“That… that sounds nice…” Marcello stumbled, before forcing his cooler exterior to the surface. “I mean, that’s cool.”

Genevieve stared at him for a moment before laughing a bit to herself. “Oh man, you’re great. See you tomorrow Marcello.”

* * *

Marcello stifled a yawn, wishing for the umpteenth time he had been able to get more sleep.

Not that his sleeping schedule was great to begin with – working nights made getting a restful sleep hard enough. But the promise of a clandestine meeting with Genevieve was enough to make him toss and turn for the better part of the morning.

He thought about asking his brothers for advice, but thought better of it. Though they talked a big game, neither of them had ever had much luck with anything beyond casual flirting. Peter and Wendy weren’t viable options either, as their advice only made him more confused the last time.

This time he was going to try and be one hundred percent himself. No outside influences.

And he one hundred percent didn’t want to eat chocolate right after he woke up, but he knew better than to express otherwise.

Pushing open the door, the bells tied to the door jingled, and the sound melted into the chorus of voices happily chatting over various confectioneries. It was a bit jarring, going from booze and gambling to milkshakes and family outings.

He looked around, and spotted Genevieve sitting at a two person table by the window. She was absentmindedly scrolling through her phone, and a glass of ice water sat in front of her.

He walked toward her, straightening his shirt nervously. He wasn’t dressed as nicely as he would have been going to work, but he did his best to look somewhat presentable. Now, however, seeing her in a t-shirt and jeans, he was starting to think he had gone overboard by wearing a green, button-down shirt and khakis.

For a split second he was tempted to sneak out of the restaurant and put on one of his clean gym shirts, before something happened that snapped him back to his senses.

Genevieve looked up at him a smiled. A big, genuine smile. She waved him over, putting her phone face down on the table.

Marcello was pretty sure the people around him were still talking, but the sound of it faded away, replaced by the rhythmic beating of his heart.

“Oh man, are you okay?” Genevieve asked once he sat down.

“Yeah,” Marcello said, hearing his own voice climb an octave. “You’re just really pretty.”

Genevieve looked surprised. “Oh, I just threw this on though. But you clean up really nicely in that. Green is definitely your color.”

Marcello felt his cheeks burning. “Thanks.”

“So, now that we’re here, I’m starting to realize that chocolate right after waking up might not have been the best idea,” Genevieve winced, “They have chocolate muffins here though, so we could try those?”

“A muffin sounds great.”

“So you like muffins?”

“I love muffins, they taste really good,” Marcello said, nodding enthusiastically.

Genevieve turned away and began giggling to herself.

“What? Oh man really,” Marcello said, grinning in spite of himself. “You really went there?”

“I thought of it before you arrived and I couldn’t resist,” Genevieve said, turning back toward him. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Marcello said, adapting his best smolder. “I really like eating muffins.”

Genevieve started giggling again, clearly trying her best not to cause a scene. After a minute she managed to calm herself down and they placed their order.

“Okay, cards on the table,” She said, smirking at her own pun. “I guess you could say this is the favor I wanted, meeting you here like this.”

“Oh?” Marcello said, sipping his glass of water.

“We’ve been playing this game for a while… Okay, that’s too many puns,” She said, waving her hand as if to push them out of the conversation. “What I mean is, would it be overstepping to call this a date?”

Marcello put down his glass and stared at her in surprise. She looked to the side again, a faint blush forming on her cheeks. It was the first time he had ever seen her nervous like this. She always seemed to be bursting with the confidence that he wished he had.

He reached out and placed his hand on top of hers, “I actually have a request too.”

Genevieve turned back to him, blinking in surprise before nodding.

“Could I have your number?” He said, a goofy grin rapidly enveloping his face. “I really wanna be able to call you and ask for a second date, if you’d like.”

“Yeah,” She said, some of her former bravado returning. “I’d like that.”

They exchanged numbers and made small talk, ordering their muffins and coming up with more terrible puns. Looking back on it, it seemed like a pretty standard first date, except that when he looked into her eyes he saw the stars in his eyes reflected in hers, perfectly complimenting the ones already present.

That, and even though they were heading to the same place to go to work, they still leaned over the small table covered in muffin crumbs to kiss each other goodbye. Genevieve’s lips were even softer than he had imagined, and his chest felt lighter than he thought possible.

“Tonight, how about a game of five card stud, stud?” Genevieve winked, walking through the door as he held it open for her.

“I’m not going to lose this time,” Marcello said, almost laughing at himself. He knew he had no chance at cards, but perhaps he could win her heart as fully as she had won his.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Translation Notes:**  
>  " _a domani_ " - Italian phrase roughly meaning "See you tomorrow"  
> " _porca la miseria_ " - lit means "miserable pig" but is an Italian phrase used similarly to "holy cow/holy shit"  
> " _Bella!_ " - Italian for beautiful, sometimes used as an interjection like Feliciano does here.


End file.
